378 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



crossed Short-horns were the ruling ring-side 

 power. The American-bred cows, with which 

 the Bates blood had " nicked " so kindly, were 

 possessed, as a rule, of sound constitution and 

 ample scale, and among them were many ex- 

 traordinary milkers. Some of them were more 

 or less lacking in refinement of character. Un- 

 der these circumstances it is easy to under- 

 stand how the Bates cross acquired public fa- 

 vor; the prepotent, fine-styled, level-lined bulls 

 of that strongly-bred type stamping neatness 

 and finish wherever their impressive seal was 

 set. 



"Royal" honors for Bates cattle. On the 

 other side of the Atlantic, while Booth and 

 Towneley had been doing most of the winning 

 at the shows, certain wealthy and enthusiastic 

 followers of the fortunes of the Bates-bred 

 tribes had occasionally tried conclusions with 

 their rivals at the National shows with good 

 success. The Earl of Feversham was first at 

 the Chester Royal of 1858 with 5th Duke of 

 Oxford (12762).* At the Leeds Royal of 1861 

 Col. Grunter won high honors, gaining first in 

 the cow class with Duchess 77th over animals 

 shown by Richard Booth and Lady Pigot. He 

 was also first in three-year-old heifers with 



*Speaking of this event Richard Gibson says: "This was my first 

 Royal, and the impression left upon my mind by 5th Duke of Oxford has 

 never been obliterated. He was larg-e and carried lots of flesh. The way 

 he moved and the air of conscious superiority he assumed I have never 

 forgotten." 



